Here Right Now | Charlie Weasley

Chapter 34 : Stressing out

THE N.E.W.T.'s was horrible, for every seventh year in Hogwarts. Ravenclaw, Hufflepuf, Gryffindor and Slytherin's were all in agreement, something that hardly ever happened. It was called N.E.W.T.'s for a reason. It stood for Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test's and the words applied to every single student taking them. 

They were like the Inferius, the way the students walked and shuffled around the castle. All younger students fled the corridors when they saw an older student. Many of them were hexed with harmless but annoying hexes for talking too loud, breathing too loud or even just being too close to them. The professors treated these instances mildly, knowing that the exams was taking a toll on the group.

Charlie found himself overwhelmed, tired and alone in the library late at night. He was sitting close to a window, his wand lit up and staring at his potions work. He was hidden behind a few bookshelves. He had bribed Madam Pince with a big bag of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, her favourite, and she had willingly let him take the keys of the library. Even though he was mostly always covered in dirt from Quidditch and looking after his creatures, she favoured him over the other seventh years begging for the library. It helped that he was a prefect too.

He was tracing the words on the parchments without seeing them, his head full of cotton balls. Nothing was going in or coming out that made any sense to him.  It was at this point that he wished that Charlotte was there, to help him out, explain everything and make him feel better. 

"Shh, Jay, we might not be alone." A distinctly female voice made Charlie snap from his reverie.

"Madam Pince isn't here, I think we're definitely alone here." Charlie could hear the smirk on this Jay's voice.

"Are you sure?" Her voice was still quiet, making Charlie strain his ears to hear her.

"Yes, now kiss me."

Her giggle met this statement and Charlie rolled his eyes as he heard audible kissing. He looked down at his pages again and sighed, his mind just not taking in anymore words about bezoars and dittany. 

He was exhausted, having studied the whole day and some part of him knew he needed the sleep, especially since the dreaded exam was tomorrow. He gathered his things quietly, not wanting to interrupt the happy couple just yet. He stood up and left the table, weaving in between the bookshelves. He peeped into the main area of the library and was met with an image he thought he would never see.

He wanted to say something but couldn't open his mouth to let the words tumble out. A part of him was surprised but at the same time he knew this was none of his business. He slipped back behind the book shelves, the couple still too immersed in each other to notice him quickly watching and then hiding again.

"Student's please return back to your common rooms. You're in a restricted area and I will take points off your houses." Charlie called, hearing the kissing abruptly stopping and the sounds of hurried footsteps out of the library. 

Soft giggles followed and disappeared as the two left.

He sighed and rubbed his face, not liking that he saw something that was obviously a secret. He was already too filled up with his own secrets and this made him feel like a barrel that had too much wine.

He left the library, locking it with the key that Madam Pince gave him. He went up to his common room, nodding in greeting to the patrolling Ravenclaw prefects. He entered his common room, after greeting the Fat Lady. No-one was in the common room and he found himself relieved, not in the mood to confront his friend. He decided to go to sleep straight away, not bothering to look at his notes one more time, as his mind was too addled and too full of cotton wool.